Malnutrition is More Hidden than we Think- Abdulkabir Abdulmalik, Food Knowledge Researcher, & Shuaib Lateefat, Foodbanking Guest Blogger

Malnutrition is usually perceived as an indicator of the unavailability of food. Some people even consider this to be a result of poverty. While they may not be wrong, this assumption could be misleading. According to Our World in Data, 66 million people (8.9%) are malnourished globally. These exploding figures indicate food insecurity and relate to several factors, including the unavailability of food, unaffordable food, and unequal food distribution between household members. We, however, feel there's an additional factor of ignorance/nonchalant attitude towards the quality of food being consumed. Snacking, for example, has increased predominantly in the past years. An article by the School of Public Health at Havard University reported that “regular intake of ultra-processed hyper-palatable snacks that contain added salt, sugar, and fats but that are low in nutrients and high in calories can increase a preference for these types of foods leading to a change in eating behaviors and diet quality (e.g., a higher intake of hyper-palatable snacks along with a decreased intake of healthful foods)." Now, this article isn't about snacks, nor does it seek to undermine the quality of previous surveys on malnutrition. This article intends to highlight the contribution of “ignorance of proper dietary requirements'' to malnutrition levels.

Malnutrition is defined by the World Health Organization as deficiencies or excesses in nutrient intake, imbalance of essential nutrients, or impaired nutrient utilization. But how much does an average person know about the minimum requirements for a healthy meal, and how many people consciously try to meet these requirements? To answer this question, we carried out a wholly randomized online micro-survey. While 31.6% of the 19 participants felt that they eat healthy and balanced meals, upon describing their daily food plan, most of their meal plans couldn't meet standard dietary requirements for a healthy meal. In agreement with this, 42.1% believe they may have been undernourished, and 63.2% of participants noted that ignorance of proper dietary requirements is the primary reason for malnutrition. Again, this is not definitive of the vital cause of malnutrition but only seeks to show how a lack of knowledge of standard dietary requirements could contribute to malnutrition levels. In 2013, FAO estimated that around 2 billion lives are affected by "hidden hunger" – chronic deficiency of essential vitamins and minerals. While this supports the theme of this survey, this article goes a bit further to engage the need for the orientation of individuals on proper dietary requirements. The "hidden hunger" concept, supported by this survey, thus highlights how ignorance of nutritional requirements and poverty could contribute to malnutrition and food insecurity.

A healthy diet should constitute grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables, fats, and salt in a balanced proportion. When taken, all these kinds of food supply the body with the required nutrients and energy. According to WHO, the following constitutes a healthy diet for adults: fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and whole grains; 400g (five portions) of fruits and vegetables; fat should not exceed 30% of total energy intake; less than 5g of salts per day; and free sugars should be limited to <10% of the total energy intake. While these numbers may seem ambiguous to put into perspective, an important underlying theme is to shift from consuming saturated and trans-fats to unsaturated fats, limit sugar and salt intakes, and incorporate more vegetables and fruits into the daily diet plan.

We acknowledge that this survey may have had some biases due to the low sample population and the limited geographic coverage of the participants. Thus, the numbers are only used for inferential purposes to show the existence of “ignorance of standard dietary requirements” as a factor contributing to malnutrition and not an absolute representation of the number of malnourished people resulting from "ignorance of standard dietary requirements." As even the WHO highlights the need for consumer awareness of a healthy diet, this survey thus indicates the need for such an approach and is backed by numbers from the survey.

This is where?No Hunger Food Bank?or No Hunger Initiatives (NHIs) comes in more vigorously in 2023. No Hunger Food Bank?is already at the forefront of efforts to eradicate hidden hunger and lift vulnerable populations, widows, and the unemployed out of hunger and poverty. Would you like to partner with NHFB to eradicate hidden malnutrition and accelerate zero hunger in Nigeria

and Africa? If yes, kindly message me directly or send an expression of interest (EOI) email to:?[email protected].?